Re-Imagining Childhoods: Nepali Children’s Homes

Abstract

The concept of childhoods is both socially constructed and unique to particular social settings. Based on an ethnographic study of five Nepali children’s homes, I argue that the localized contexts of these homes not only exist as spaces where youth negotiate their own unique statuses and futures but also where the social construction and fluidity of childhoods are most evident. By applying sociologist C. Wright Mills’ “sociological imagination,” we become best equipped to understand individual stories within these localized spaces as illustrative of what is ordinary and normalized at the local level, which in turn allows us to envision what is possible for broader society.

Citation

Rothchild, J. (2020), "Re-Imagining Childhoods: Nepali Children’s Homes", Sriskandarajah, A. and Bass, L.E. (Ed.) Rethinking Young People’s Lives Through Space and Place (Sociological Studies of Children and Youth, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 47-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120200000026004